ChaCha Search, Inc.

With his newest venture, ChaCha, Scott Jones wanted to solve the problem search engine users were experiencing with existing services – that is, the massive volume of search results they must sift through online when looking for information.

As the first search engine to connect people in real-time to produce relevant results, ChaCha provides users with a comfortable and familiar search experience that improves upon the shortcomings of first-generation search engines. ChaCha’s live human guides correspond with users via a real-time chat interface in order to provide only the most relevant search results.

HOW CHACHA WORKS: Powered by thousands of knowledgeable humans, when search queries are entered into ChaCha, the system automatically locates the best available guide to deliver personal and targeted results for users’ searches. Additionally, ChaCha users can choose to either “search with a guide” or get instant search results by tapping into ChaCha’s rapidly expanding index of human-generated results.

THE ADVANTAGES:

Access to previously unavailable information: Adding to the unique value of the search experience, ChaCha guides can access information that traditional search engines cannot, like searchable databases that dynamically generate Web pages “on demand” based on the needs of a specific user and Web sites that don’t make their entire database of content available to computer-based search engines that traditionally use spidering, indexing and page-ranking techniques. Until now, millions of online resources that may contain the best information and the answers people are searching for have not always been readily accessible through search engines.

Human intelligence injected into search process: Since ChaCha guides are selected to perform searches based on their knowledge and experience, ChaCha offers a unique advantage over typical online answer services. For example, a user requesting information on pancake recipes might be connected to a guide who is a retired chef or cooking enthusiast. The selected guide already knows which resources are best for recipes and can immediately provide links to tasty pancake recipes.

Flexibility: With ChaCha there is something for everyone conducting a search. ChaCha is the first search engine to offer both a “Search” and “Search with a human guide” capability on its home page. Similar to traditional search engines, ChaCha’s automated search uses an input box and simple search button, with results delivered in a split second. However, those results differ from traditional search engines because ChaCha’s search index is filtered through the automated indexing of results that guides have previously returned to users. This approach allows ChaCha to provide highly relevant search results while excluding millions of irrelevant results normally returned by machine-based search engines.

Usability: With ChaCha, users don’t have to know the best way to enter their search queries to get relevant results. The guides use their extensive training and previous knowledge of the subject matter to find exactly what the user is looking for and then present only the most targeted links. The guides do all of the searching; eliminating the need for users to sift through the millions of irrelevant results traditional search engines often return.

For more information or to “ChaCha” your next search query, visit ChaCha’s experimental Beta Web site at www.chacha.com.